i think the first pic should be B&W since the color version didn't bring much colors into the background. When i looked at the B&W first, I thought the wind mill was going to be more vibrant, but was disappointed by the actual dull colors of the background. Either B&W or keep the background B&W and have her in color.

I prefer the color version of #1 because the girl is without a doubt the main subject. The toned B&W leaves the issue in doubt because it has such poor contrast.

Same for #4. Both look like they were just de-saturated and toned, rather than converted to B&W first.

#3 has somewhat better contrast but the subjects face is underexposed because the bright background fooled the camera's light meter because it was in Evaluative mode. IMO, the photo would have been much better if flash had been used to control the background, and spot metering had been used.

It's to bad the watermark is so intrusive. I'd recommend you lose that huge P3 thing. It looks like it got put there as an after thought.

The color photo is the best, technically and IMO asthetically too. I rarely make outdoor portraits without flash or reflected light myself. Just a kiss of snooted OCF would have really made her pop.

I prefer the color version of #1 because the girl is without a doubt the main subject. The toned B&W leaves the issue in doubt because it has such poor contrast.

Same for #4. Both look like they were just de-saturated and toned, rather than converted to B&W first.

#3 has somewhat better contrast but the subjects face is underexposed because the bright background fooled the camera's light meter because it was in Evaluative mode. IMO, the photo would have been much better if flash had been used to control the background, and spot metering had been used.

It's to bad the watermark is so intrusive. I'd recommend you lose that huge P3 thing. It looks like it got put there as an after thought.

The color photo is the best, technically and IMO asthetically too. I rarely make outdoor portraits without flash or reflected light myself. Just a kiss of snooted OCF would have really made her pop.

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I did use a flash(430ex), although I did have to change batteries at this location. So maybe it did not fire? Now I'm going to have to go check that anyway... Spot metering? Any thoughts on good info to help me learn this? I have started watching a youtube link that was posted on here but a book might be useful to have. Thanks for your input.